Tangle Eye Blues - Tangle Eye
Prison Songs, Vol. 1: Murderous Home, " Historical Recordings From Parchman Farm 1947-'48." - The Alan Lomax Collection.

Lomax wrote:” Sung by the cross-eyed prisoner whose mates had named him Tangle-Eye. Every good singer in the Pen has his own field holler with which he amuses himself in reflective moments. Often those tunes are kin to the blues, often they are composed of free yodeling tunes which seem to have African roots. The wild free melodies permit the singers literally to think and free associate out loud. The holler is, for me, the most expressive style in all our folklore. Tangle-Eye here tells his own story.”
Genius

“Tangle Eye Blues” is Tangle Eye’s personal story of incarceration, religion, and repentance. Based on his singing style, we can infer that this may have once been a gospel song that was popular amongst African American churches... (continua)